Australian Open: Edmund and Isner bow out. Tsitsipas and Anderson win
Competing at his 16th Australian Open, a former semi-finalist Tomas Berdych has made another big step on his comeback trail (missed the second part of 2018 with a back injury), defeating the last year's semi-finalist Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6- 0, 7-5 in an hour and 42 minutes for his 45th win Melbourne! Kyle was nowhere near the form from 12 months ago, struggling with a knee injury that forced him to skip Sydney and staying competitive only in the third set against the Czech who did everything right on the court. Tomas blasted 12 aces and he faced one break point in the entire match, at 4-5 in the 10th game of the third set that could have prolonged Kyle's chances in this match if he had managed to convert it.
Besides that, Tomas had the upper hand all the time, creating seven break chances and stealing the rival's serve on five occasions to close the match in style, hitting 37 winners and just 14 unforced errors. The first set was decided already in the second game after poor serving from Kyle who never found a rhythm on the return, falling two sets to love down after giving his serve away three times in set number two. As we already said, he was on the same level with Tomas in the first ten games of the third set but that set point he squandered sealed his fate in this match, losing serve in the next game and allowing Berdych to cross the finish line with a hold at love a few minutes later.
The 5th seed Kevin Anderson won just 11 matches in Melbourne in the first ten comings down under and he had to work hard to emerge as a winner today as well, notching a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Adrian Mannarino in two hours and 53 minutes. The South African lost the second set but he shifted into a higher gear from that point to wrap up the win as fast as possible and avoid spending more time on the court in the opening match of the tournament. The 14th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas stayed on the court for almost three hours as well, ousting Matteo Berrettini 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in the battle of the youngsters to become the first Greek male player with the main draw win at the Australian Open!
They had an almost identical number of winners and errors and Matteo stayed in touch after converting both break points he earned on the return. On the other hand, Stefanos managed to break him four times and it was enough to carry him over the finish line and secure another milestone for his country. Matteo fought great in the opening set, saving one break point and taking the tie break 7-3 to announce an upset. Stefanos stayed focused, though, breaking his rival at 2-2 in the second set to win it 6-4 after some impressive serving, repeating that in set number three when he broke Berrettini twice to move a set away from the win.
The Italian served better in the fourth set but he failed to convert two break points, losing the tie break 7-4 to push Tsitsipas over the finish line and into the second round. In the tallest Grand Slam match ever, the 21-year-old Reilly Opelka took down the 9th seed John Isner 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in just under three hours for his first Grand Slam win. As was expected, we saw some strong serving on both sides and they completed the match with 87 aces and just five break points faced. Both players scored one break and they stayed neck and neck from start to finish, barely missing a chance to send the match into a decider and deliver more drama on Court 8. John won five points more than the youngster but that wasn't enough for a positive result, dropping the second set despite having a 6-4 lead in the breaker and wasting a 5-3 lead with a break in set nuber four before Opelka bounced back to claim the biggest win in a career so far.
First round results:
[5]Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3 5-7 6-2 6-1 [19]Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs [Q]Christophe Eubanks (USA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3 Radu Albot (MDA) vs Michael Mmoh (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 [Q]Stefano Travaglia (ITA) vs Guido Andreozzi (ARG) 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3 6-2 [26]Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs [Q]Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 7-6(5) 6-3 6-3 Robin Haase (NED) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 7-5 6-4 7-5 [14]Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3 7-6(4) [20]Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs [Q]Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-4 Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs [Q]Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) 7-6(7) 6-3 6-3 Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-4 7-5 6-1 Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) vs [WC]Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-4 7-6(1) 2-6 6-3 Reilly Opelka (USA) vs [9]John Isner (USA) 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 7-6(5) [18]Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs [Q]Rudolf Molleker (GER) 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-0 Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs [13]Kyle Edmund (GBR) 6-3 6-0 7-5
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FqPKOj
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